Czech Republic

From the highs of qualifying for major events like the EHF EURO 2012 or the World Championship 2013 to lows like failing to qualify for the EHF EURO 2014 and the World Championship 2015, women’s handball in the Czech Republic has been on quite a roller coaster ride - and potentially the successful qualification for the Women's EHF EURO 2016 marks the start of a new high.

After the Czech federation started to focus on their youth programmes, including hosting YAC EHF EURO and World Championship events, a huge number of the national team players started playing abroad, mainly in Germany, Hungary and Poland. One of the team's current top players is Iveta Luzumova from German champions and Champions League participants Thüringer HC.

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Michaela Hrbková

Michaela Hrbková started her handball career in Olomouc, the Moravian town with a great tradition of women's handball in the Czech Republic. She then transferred to DHC Sokol Poruba for which she played until 2014. In July 2014 she signed her first foreign contract which took her to Lokomotiv Zagreb in Croatia and also to her debut to in the Women's EHF Champions League in the 2014/15 season. In 2015/16 she played for Siofók in Hungary and has recently joined German side Göppingen.

Hrbková was already part of the Czech team at the EHF EURO 2012 and the World Championship 2013. She made her debut in 2007. As of September 2016, she has played 117 times for her country, scoring more than 250 goals. In June 2015 Hrbková was awarded player of the year in the Czech Republic.

Jana Knedlíková

The right wing started her professional handball career at Slavia Praha. As a child Knedlikova had also tried ballet and figure skating but eventually stayed with handball. In 2014 she went to Hungary where she first played for Mosonmagyróvár. Her performances there attracted the attention of the nation's top club and still in the same year she joined Györi Audi ETO KC with which she reached the Women's EHF FINAL4 in 2016.

Knedliková has been part of the Czech national handball team since 2008. As of September 2016, she has played 76 internationals and scored more than 160 goals.

Jan Bašný was born in Brno, the second biggest Czech city, but his handball origins lie in Zlin where he started playing handball. At the age of 18 he played for Slavia Praha as he was also studying in the nation's capital.

In 1990 Basny started playing for Ajaccio on the French island of Corse. It was the beginning of many years in France and also the beginning of his coaching career as he eventually started coaching the men's team. In 2004 he accepted an offer from Istres OPH and moved to the French mainland. Between 2007 and 2009 he coached ES Becançon, and since 2014 Bašný is the head coach of the Nantes Loire Atlantique Handball women's handball team.

On the national team level Bašný leads the Czech women's national team since 2010. Under his leadership the team placed 12th at the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia and 15th at the World Championship 2013.